Hair stylists and the like typically utilize a pivoting chair while styling the hair of an individual. Usually, these chairs are equipped with a U-shaped footrest which extends downwardly from the front of the chair's seat. Even though these chairs are hydraulically driven to raise and lower the seat portion relative to the underlying floor, elderly or handicapped individuals find it difficult to enter into and remove themselves from these chairs. This difficulty arises from the inaccessibility of the seat due to the positioning of the frontwardly extending footrest. Oftentimes, with the limited physical capabilities of these individuals, they are unable to maneuver themselves from a body supporting device, such as a cane, a wheelchair or a walker, over the footrest and onto the seat. As such, these individuals must be hoisted into these chairs, which is inefficient for the hair stylists and causes the individuals to experience not only the discomfort of being hoisted, but also the indignity associated with needing to be hoisted even for a simple task such as sitting in a hair stylist's chair. Alternatively, these individuals must be seated on conventional, non-pivoting chairs, thus also making the hair stylist's job considerably more difficult to complete.
Accordingly, it is seen that a need remains for a chair footrest mechanism which enables a person with limited mobility to access the chair seat but which still enables the feet of a seated individual to be supported. It is to the provision of such therefore that the present invention is primarily directed.